Book of Ages: The Life and Opinions of Jane Franklin

Jill Lepore reconstructs the life of Jane Franklin, youngest sister to Benjamin Franklin, through a sparse collection of letters and her private "Book of Ages" litany of births and deaths. While Benjamin rose to international fame through his mastery of the printing press and diplomacy, Jane remained in Boston, raising twelve children and enduring persistent poverty. The narrative contrasts Benjamin’s public achievements with Jane’s private struggle to maintain her intellect and literacy amidst the physical demands of eighteenth-century domesticity and the devastating loss of nearly all her offspring.

Historians and readers of feminist biography will find this a detailed study of how gender and class shaped the Enlightenment. It provides a technical look at historical erasure and the specific social structures that prevented brilliant women from participating in the public intellectual sphere. Readers walk away with a specific understanding of colonial life for the laboring class and a clear comparison between the sibling who had the resources to write history and the one who was nearly forgotten by it.